F/T Feeding Behavior... A "killing" machine, my BP is not...

My new BP has eaten twice now (a total of three mouse fuzzies - we're moving up to smallish mice next time), and each time, it's been about as exciting as watching a pet cat eat dry food. I'm not complaining (I didn't get a snake for the "thrill of the kill" or anything), just wondering if that's normal. There's no strike, no coil, no constriction. No fanfare. I was planning to videotape him eating so my mom could watch, but it would be way too boring to sit through. :) The only way I could convince anyone he was a ferocious killer would be through creatively arranged still pics.

Don't get me wrong, he's great about eating so far. He smells that mouse and goes on the prowl right away, but as soon as he finds it, he simply picks it up and swallows it. I'm tempted to just hand the mouse to him to see what happens (j/k...I'm too much of a sissy to try that any time soon!)

It's just a little anti-climactic after I spent days reading about all the sneaky ways to tempt a snake into eating F/T, found a place to buy long hemostats, etc. Figures! Again, not complaining, just a little (pleasantly) surprised.

I'm sure I've now jinxed myself for all future snakes.

Anybody else have a snake that eats in this manner?

I have a few that refuse to strike..So I place the F/T inside their hide box and its gone very shortly. I have one big female when her bin is opened her response is to either A. come out swinging or B. she will periscope,smell and keep pushing her nose against the rat for a couple mins and then very gently take it from the hemo's.. Its quite funny

You want a real response go live! You will probably see those hard fast strikes your looking for. I feed all 3 of mine live and all 3 hit real hard and wrap real fast.

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Originally Posted by Strtaylor

You want a real response go live!

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I feed mine f/t, and that initial strike is lightning fast and powerful.

If you just set it in the enclosure, chances are they won't strike at it. If you offer it with tongs then you are more likely to get a strike and coil.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

If you just set it in the enclosure, chances are they won't strike at it. If you offer it with tongs then you are more likely to get a strike and coil.

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also, tug the tail of the rodent once they pick it up, this will usually make them coil and cause a stronger feeding response. I do this with all of my snakes and its turned even my shyest boy into a coiler.

Only two of my BPs will take F/T - Pedro (Mojave) and Toby (Pastel) - and they each react completely differently. Pedro will strike and coil, so aggressively that I can barely open the tub before he grabs it. :oops: Toby, on the other hand, is very delicate with his F/T prey... I just place it on the newspaper, and after a few minutes he'll approach slowly and "pick" at it for a moment before swallowing. No strike, no coil, just like a cat eating their food off the ground.

So in my experience, yes that is perfectly normal for some snakes! Toby is a very healthy (and now breeding) big boy, so it's never seemed to affect him - although he does get live more often than frozen, since 5/7 of them will only take live. Hope this helps... ;)

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

If you just set it in the enclosure, chances are they won't strike at it. If you offer it with tongs then you are more likely to get a strike and coil.

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That is true, although Toby still doesn't strike... but with the others, it definitely gets a bigger reaction when I do the "zombie dance." :D The ones who rarely (if ever) take F/T will at least try to strike when I wiggle it on tongs.

Oh, and rather than dangling them by the tail, I'd suggest the neck scruff instead... then drag it on the floor (of the tub/tank) like it's walking normally, and sometimes that gets the snake more excited.

You would get a kick out the way my baby girl eats! She 5 months now and every time she has ever eaten she strikes the moment its lowered into the tank. She nailed me once because i wasnt faster than she was lol! F/T too! It doesnt have to move for her. She strikes at anything.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

If you just set it in the enclosure, chances are they won't strike at it. If you offer it with tongs then you are more likely to get a strike and coil.

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Wow, Patriot must be the exception if that's the rule. Perhaps one day I'll video tape his attack. I never hold the mouse with tongs, never make it move. It's just lying there. BOOM!!!

I dont use tongs, I feel they are a waste of money. That said, I was lowering a F/t rat by its tail into my big, already breeding, female's tub and she struck so violently that I was stuck holding the skin from the tip of the rats tail. Now THAT is striking and coiling your prey.

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Originally Posted by pavlovk1025

I dont use tongs, I feel they are a waste of money. That said, I was lowering a F/t rat by its tail into my big, already breeding, female's tub and she struck so violently that I was stuck holding the skin from the tip of the rats tail. Now THAT is striking and coiling your prey.

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Happens with me all to often.. Leaves me standing there grossed out! haha But i use my hands. I feel better about it. Would rather them sink there teeth in me than hard metal.. Even though im one step ahead ^_^ most of the time!

eek! Rats are prone to sloughing injuries on their tails, so it doesn't surprise me that some of you have had rats leave you with "lasting memories" after a particularly impressive strike/coil.

I'm not upset by my snake's lack of "enthusiasm" for eating, and I'm actually pretty impressed with how easy he's been so far (aside from the hideously expensive set-up costs to feel up-to-par in this forum). I was mostly just wondering if anyone had a snake that behaved in such an extremely mellow (and easy to please) fashion toward feeding. I really was a bit freaked out when I decided to buy a ball python, because I was convinced they were all terrible eaters, and that I'd be in for a world of hurt trying to get a Petco ball python (of all BPs) to eat F/T. I've admitted he was definitely an impulse purchase, since I was about to buy the baby corn snake underneath him, but I'm pretty impressed with him, so far. He's been nothing but a great eater, mellow (hasn't balled up once), and amusing since we got him.

The little guy definitely has the makings of a "lap snake", and he's very easy to get along with. I have no idea why I didn't get a snake before this. My boyfriend is somewhat distressed by his propensity to hide all the time, but I'm okay with that. I told him, if we get another snake, we'll just have to get a dwarf boa or something else equally "friendly" (he wants something he can play with all the time...I'm okay with the BP chilling in his hides 90% of the time, since I get a geeky sort of fulfillment from maintaining his temps and humidity), but I have no complaints about my little guy, so far.

I still don't know if "he" is a "little guy", since he hasn't pooped, and I haven't taken him to Dr. Stahl yet. However, when he poops, we're headed to Dr. Stahl to see what I've got (hard to pick a name, when I don't know if "he" is a boy or girl) and get him/her checked out for parasites.

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Originally Posted by jjc

I have no idea why I didn't get a snake before this.

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LOL... exactly my thoughts. :D I had avoided getting one mostly because of the feedings, since I was sure it would bother me to feed mice/rats to a snake - surprisingly it doesn't bother me at all, once I got past the initial ickiness. Even the live is okay with me, which is good since most of mine refuse F/T. :cool:

Oh, and nothing wrong with a "Petco BP" if you love him/her! Some of my best pets have come from questionable sources, so that doesn't necessarily mean anything... ;)

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Originally Posted by pavlovk1025

I dont use tongs, I feel they are a waste of money.

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I duno... I've had some pretty bad misses with almost all of my snakes and I'd rather they get a mouth full of metal than a mouth full of my finger any day.

i use hemostats to feed all my animals. I have no desire to "train" my carpet to accept food from my hand because when (if) she gets to 8-10 feet, that could be a very dangerous mistake.

Hi,

I actually wondered if there was some way of "rubberising" the tips of hemostats?

At the moment I dangle from my fingers but that is a recipie for Stupid Feeding Errors (SFE's - i.e. me getting bitten ).

To avoid them possibly hurting themselves I'd prefer they bit me than metal but rubber coated metal seems the most logical compromise.

How thick would the rubber need to be? And how could you attatch it firmly enough?


dr del

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Originally Posted by Lolo76

LOL... exactly my thoughts. :D I had avoided getting one mostly because of the feedings, since I was sure it would bother me to feed mice/rats to a snake

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That's the sole reason I never got a snake till now. It was only earlier this year when I discovered that they could be fed frozen rodents, and then I wasted no time getting a snake! Mind you, I'm still a bit icky about handling the frozen critter. We've had beloved rats in our menagerie of pets, so it's not easy for me.

I feed mine f/t med rats and does 1 of 3 things as of lately:

1. I open the viv, lower the rat with the tongs and he scares me because he is so darn quick striking it LOL. He usually coils as well.

2. I open the viv, lower the rat with tongs as he peeks out of his hide and waits for the perfect moment to strike. If I have the patience, while he ponders, I will continue to dangle it infront of him. Otherwise and I drop it and usually within a minute or so he strikes and coils.

3. I open the viv, lower the rat with the tongs and he completely ignores me and the rat, doesn't peek out of his hide or anything. I eventually drop the rat and he simply eats it slowly like a gentleman never striking or coiling LOL.

Maybe mine is just moody or likes to mess with me LOL.